Chest
Clinical InvestigationsAcute Effects of Oxygen Treatment Upon Information Processing In Hypoxemic COPD Patients
Section snippets
Subjects
Ten hypoxemic COPD patients were recruited for participation in the study. Each patient had been clinically diagnosed with COPD by standard American Thoracic Society criteria. They ranged in age from 48 to 79 years (M = 66.30; SD = 8.33). Criteria for acceptance into the study included a resting room air PaO2 level of less than 55 mm Hg. All patients had a current prescription for oxygen therapy.
Setting
Each patient was admitted to the General Clinical Research Center at the Scripps Clinic and Research
Results
A 2 × 2 within-subject analysis of variance was performed to analyze changes in oxygen saturation (SaO2). The two factors in the design were gas mixture (oxygen, room air), and duration (six hours, 20 minutes). There was a significant main effect for gas mixture (F 1/9 = 14.05, p<0.005). Subjects had higher SaO2 levels while breathing oxygen than while breathing room air. Thus, the manipulation for gas mixture was effective in changing oxygen saturation levels. The duration effect and the
Discussion
Previous studies on the effects of hypoxemia upon human information processing have produced inconsistent results. Evidence is accumulating to suggest that long-term hypoxemia is associated with impaired intellectual functioning.1, 2 Although several studies suggested that oxygen treatment may help alleviate this problem,3, 4, 10 continuing efforts have produced inconsistent results.7
An important finding in the current investigation is that patients experienced significantly higher SaO2 levels
Conclusions
Cerebral changes in hypoxemic COPD have emerged as a complex puzzle. Considerable evidence suggests that hypoxemic COPD may result in CNS effects that are reflected in memory and abstraction deficits. Long-term oxygen therapy may retard these effects or may produce mild improvements. The acute effects of oxygen therapy are less clearly established. Although some evidence from other (non-COPD) patients with CNS problems indicates benefits, our data corroborate other reports failing to
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Cited by (19)
Short term oxygen therapy effects in hypoxemic patients measured by drawing analysis
2015, Computer Methods and Programs in BiomedicineCitation Excerpt :Cognitive flexibility, motor operations and an increase of grip force are some of the changes that take place after treatment [4,18]. In other studies that used brief periods of O2 (20 min/6 h), the authors did not find significant cognitive changes or motor driving performance improvement [6,19]. These studies indicate than the effect of O2 has been demonstrated in the half and long term, but not in the short term.
Visual attention in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
1995, Biological PsychologyCognitive impairment in COPD: an often overlooked co-morbidity
2021, Expert Review of Respiratory MedicineThe brain at risk: Associations between disease and cognition
2019, The Brain at Risk: Associations between Disease and Cognition
Supported by Grant K04 HI 00809 (R.M.K.) and by the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation NIH GCRC Award RR 00833
Manuscript received August 2; revision accepted January 3.